The Texas Space Commission (TSC) has awarded Axiom Space up to $5.5 million through its Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund (SEARF) to support the development and operationalization of initial Axiom Space Orbital Data Center (ODC) capabilities a critical step toward a scalable and resilient orbital computing architecture that supports a variety of national security, civil, and commercial use cases.

Axiom Space’s ODC architecture includes two initial free-flying nodes in low-Earth orbit (LEO) launching by the end of this year, and additional nodes of increased compute capacity to be deployed in the coming years. This SEARF award complements Axiom Space’s previously announced ODC roadmap to accelerate deployment of a multitude of free-flyer ODC nodes to meet rapidly emerging demand from users around the world. These milestones represent progress towards establishing a fully operational orbital cloud computing network supporting users across national security, commercial, and civil sectors.

“Axiom Space is actively evaluating how our ODC architecture can enhance critical U.S. capabilities, including the proposed Golden Dome missile defense architecture,” said Jason Aspiotis, Global Director of In-Space Data and Security at Axiom Space. “In this context, real-time, around-the-clock availability, secure orbital processing, and AI-driven autonomy are vital for ensuring mission success.”

The SEARF-funded effort will include Axiom Space collaboration with Texas companies, research institutes, and universities to catalyze Texas-driven ODC innovation and utilization across AI/ML, cyber and quantum security, advanced communications, and defense applications.

ODC nodes will be capable of supporting a wide range of space-based use cases, including:

• On-orbit and real-time processing, exploitation, and dissemination (PED) of data from multiple national security and commercial satellites
• Lower-latency multi-sensor fusion for terrestrial or Space threat detection and tracking
• AI/ML and Large Language Models (LLM) to enable real-time and autonomous or semi-autonomous decision making for satellites and other space assets
• Earth-independent endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities to enhance the cyber security of the thousands of national security, commercial, and civil space assets

ODCs are being developed and tested in Texas, creating high-skill jobs and strengthening the state’s role as a national leader in advanced orbital infrastructure. “With the support of the Texas Space Commission, Axiom Space is helping to define the next frontier of digital infrastructure – and doing it right here in Texas”, said Tejpaul Bhatia, CEO of Axiom Space. The SEARF grant underscores the Texas Space Commission’s commitment to fostering space innovation and preparing the U.S. for a contested, data-driven space domain.

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